Basilica Santuario Madona Delle Lacrime

Basilica Santuario Madona Delle Lacrime

Syracusa, Sicily, Italy

Basilica Santuario Madona Delle Lacrime

"The basilica Madonna delle Lacrime sanctuary is a minor basilica and Marian shrine erected in memory of the miraculous tearing of a plaster effigy depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary , placed at the bedside of the Iannuso spouses at their humble home in via degli Orti in Syracuse , in 1953 .

In 2002, John Paul II raised the sanctuary to the dignity of a minor basilicawith the name of "basilica sanctuary Madonna delle Lacrime"

Diagram and Description of Church

"According to tradition, the miraculous event was repeated from 29 August to 1 September 1953 in the general emotion of an immense multitude of faithful, in the house of the Iannuso spouses. Collected the tears were subjected to a scientific analysis according to which they would be human tear liquid. The devotion that followed was of enormous proportions. The small effigy of the Madonna delle Lacrime , first provisionally admitted to the nearby Euripide square from 1953 to 1968, was placed inside the sanctuary , in the current crypt and remained there from 1968 to 1994, before being moved inside the upper temple of the Sanctuary.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary Altar

"The work was designed in 1957 by French architects Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat following an international competition announcement but the structural works are by engineer Riccardo Morandi ^[1] . The construction began in 1966: ...

"The construction was completed after about 28 years and the sanctuary was consecrated, inaugurated and dedicated to the Madonna delle Lacrimeon 6 November 1994 by Pope John Paul II ...

Interior  of Sanctuary Spire

"The structure is subject to various interpretations. The architects set out to structurally implement the concept of the elevation of humanity to God . In fact, the plant with its circularity wants to represent humanity that reaches out to God. Other meanings attributed are those of: beacon, identifiable with Mary that leads to the port that is Jesus; tent, within which the Mother welcomes her children to lead them to the Father; lily turned upside down, finally a tear that comes down from above seen in the dynamics of the impact on the ground." (Link.)

*****

Photos: Taken in October 2018 by RW  while travelling to Italy. 

Link:  https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_santuario_Madonna_delle_Lacrime (translation)

                                                                          Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Catania Train Station Chapel

Train Station Chapel
Catania, Sicily, Italy

Catania Centrale

Location within Sicily (Link.)

"Catania Centrale is the main railway station of the Italian city of Catania, in Sicily. Along with Palermo Centrale, Messina Centrale and Syracuse it is one of the most important stations of its region. It is managed by the Ferrovie dello Stato, the national rail company of Italy.

Entrance to Train Chapel

"The station was inaugurated on 24 June 1866. One century later it was upgraded and renewed due to the electrification of the Messina-Catania line.

Catania Centrale is located close to the Port of Catania and by the sea. It has a railway depot and a link to the port. The station building has two floors and a portico and is protected by the national cultural heritage.

The station is electrified and served by regional trains, by a metro line and by the Circumetnea railway. For long distance transport there are InterCity and Express trains to Rome, Turin, Milan and Venice, linking it also with Genoa, Naples, Bologna, Florence, Pisa and other cities." (Link.)

********

Photos: Taken in October 2018 by RW  while travelling to Italy. 

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catania_Centrale_railway_station

                                                                          Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Parrocchia S. Tommaso Al Pantheon

Chiesa Parrocchia  San Tommaso Al Pantheon
Syracusa, Sicily, Italy

"The church of San Tommaso al Pantheon is located in Syracuse , located between the end of the Gelone course, the Syracusan Forum , the Euripides square and the Via Armando Diaz. ....Start of construction, 1919.

Church Announcements

"The church of San Tommaso al Pantheon, commonly called by the Syracusans "the Pantheon", is considered as the main monument to the fallen of the First World War , because inside there are the remains of the Syracusani soldiers who died at the front during the First World War.

"Designed by architect Gaetano Rapisardi , the structure is of modern style, built starting from 1919 , with a circular shape, its section is cylindrical and is characterized by large pillars divided by large windows that support a small terrace comprising some small windows surmounted by crosses of Stone. At the top of the church there is a small bell tower in reinforced concrete. 
The entrance is given by a large bronze portal, on whose side there is a commemorative plaque in memory of the victims of World War I, inside there is the only circular nave of the church, where there are the tombstones and the remains of the Syracusans fallen to the front. The high altar is elegant and next to it there are valuable sacred works of contemporary era " (Link.)

******

Photos: Taken in October 2018 by RW  while travelling to Italy. 
Link : https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_San_Tommaso_al_Pantheon
            (Translation)

                                                                          Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Sanctuary Altar

Santa Maria Della Concezione
Rome, Italy

Church Announcements

"Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, is a church in Rome, Italy, commissioned in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII, whose brother, Antonio Barberini, was a Capuchin friar. It is located at Via Veneto, close to Piazza Barberini.

Front Inner Door

"The crypt, or ossuary, now contains the remains of 4,000 friars buried between 1500 and 1870, during which time the Roman Catholic Church permitted burial in and under churches. The underground crypt is divided into five chapels, lit only by dim natural light seeping in through cracks, and small fluorescent lamps. The crypt walls are decorated with the remains in elaborate fashion, making this crypt a macabre work of art. Some of the skeletons are intact and draped with Franciscan habits, but for the most part, individual bones are used to create elaborate ornamental designs.

 Sanctuary Balcony

"Several renowned authors visited the crypt and left descriptions. The Marquis de Sade, who visited the crypt in 1775, wrote, “I have never seen anything more striking” (Voyage d'Italie, p. 106 of the Maurice Lever edition). Mark Twain visited the crypt in the summer of 1867, and begins Chapter XXVIII of The Innocents Abroad with 5 pages of his observations. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the crypt in his novel The Marble Faun."(Link )

Painting  Above Altar

********

Photos: Taken in October 2018 by RW  while travelling to Italy. 
Link :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Concezione_dei_Cappuccini

                                                                          Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Parting of the Red Sea
The VOLKSBIBEL 1915

INDEX

2018

England

London, England, Our Lady and St. Catherine

               Siena CatholicChurch, 3/18/18.

                                                                      France

 Ferrette, France,  Church Saint Bernard-de-Menthon, 7/1/18.

Mulhouse, France, Temple St.-Etienne, 7/22/18.

Italy

Lugano, Milan, Chiesa de  Sant Angelo Roman Catholic Church,

                 4/15/18. 
Lugano, ,  Chiesa di Sant Angelo, 4/29/18.

Sienna, Tuscany, Church in Lecchi in Chianti, 11/18/18.
Siracusa, Sicily, Chiesa San Filippo Apostolo, 11/11/18.
Syracusa, Sicily, Chiesa San Giovainni Batista,  10/28/18.

Trapani, Collegio die Gesuiti, 12/16/18.

Latvia

Riga, Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 9/16/18.

Switzerland

Aargau, Switzerland, Baden Reformed Church, 2/4/18. 

Found in Basel, Switzerland 2018, Photo Essay, German Bible ,

                   Commentary 1912,  5/20/18.
Found in 2018 in Basel, Switzerland, Photo Essay , The VolksBibel Illustraions, The VOLKSBIBEL 1915 (The People's Bible), 5/6/18.
Gruyere, Switzerland, Eglise Saint Theodule Roman Catholic Church,
               1/14/18.
Lucerne, Switzerland, Kirche St. Paul 
                  Katholische Kirche, 6/17/18.
Zurich, Kirche Hongg, 10/7/18.

United States

US Memorial Day, 2018, The Wall, 5/28/18 and 11/11/18.

*******

                                                                           Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)

Collegio  dei Gesuiti 
in the morning sunshine

Collegio die Gesuiti

Trapani, Italy

"The church of the Jesuit college is a baroque church in Trapani , dedicated to the Immaculate Conception , located in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in the historic center. Adjacent, on the right of the church, is the building of the former college, while the former convent overlooks Via Roma.

Church Sign

"When the Jesuits arrived in Trapani, in 1581 and in 1596, they obtained permission to build the church, thanks to the donations of the city Senate, with annexed the college, and the convent. The church was designed in 1614 by the Jesuit Messinese Christmas architect Masuccio and is one of the most significant Baroque monuments of the city 

"The church was consecrated in 1705. After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767, the Jesuit Fathers had to leave Trapani in 1770 and their property passed under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Mazara del Vallo .

"The College then became the high school gymnasium Ximenes after the unification of Italy, while the convent was the seat of the court until the 1950s.

"Closed, since the beginning of the restoration works, since 1961, and was reopened in January 2003, but the works of architectural restoration of the church by the superintendence were definitively completed only in 2011 .

Front of  Church

"The interior has three naves, with columns and arches in Serliana. The walls are decorated with stuccos made by Bartolomeo Sanseverino, a student of the Serpotta , and by marbles.

"In the eighteenth century it was built by the architect Giovanni Biagio Amico la Cappella di Sant'Ignazio , valuable painting depicting St. Ignatius of Loyola , ^[3] by Vito Carreca .

"Among the paintings there is a painting depicting St. Francis Xavier by Pietro Novelli  , an altarpiece depicting the Immaculate Conception by Geronimo Gerardi and a wooden cupboard in the sacristy of Pietro Orlando . 

"In the apse there is the icon of the Immaculate , sculpted in 1766 by relief on white marble, by Ignazio Marabitti . ^[3] The precious works of inlays of colored marbles are prominent in the church; among the most valuable the altar dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola and the precious pulpit." (Link 1) 

Trapani

Location of Trapani in Italy (Link 2.)

"Trapani [ˈtraːpani]  listen (help·info) (Sicilian: Tràpani; Latin: Drepanon, Greek: Δρέπανον) is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands" (Link 2/)

********

Photos: Taken in October 2018 by RW  while travelling to Italy. 

Link 1: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_del_collegio_dei_Gesuiti
Link 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapani

                                                                          Prayer

God, be with persecuted Christians throughout the world. Amen (SW.)